The book was an attempt to reproduce the highly regarded volumes of John Gould's The Mammals of Australia, issued in 1863 with lithographic illustrations by Henry Richter, a work only available as a valuable collectible.
the result of Troughton's research into the regions very poorly known chiropteran species, and the date of publication was subject to taxonomic rules of priority.
Strahan provided brief accounts to Cayley's plates, supplemented with the illustrations of Peter Schouten, he says to emulate the work What Bird is That?.
Strahan assembled the new work to showcase the art of Cayley's mammals that had been collected by researchers seeking reference material the Australian Museum's book.
When introducing Cayley's paintings in the new edition, Strahan criticises his renditions of mammals (and the birds of his earlier works) as somewhat flat and lifeless when compared to Richter's lithographs in Gould's 1863 volumes.